John Carpenter's Five Favorite Films

John Carpenter : "Now, my favorite films as a more mature person, when I was learning about what the director is and does, probably a lot of them were Howard Hawks movies, like Only Angels Have Wings and Rio Bravo. In Hawks's world, Only Angels Have Wings and Rio Bravo are his visions of adventure stories with male groups, and men and women's relationships, and life and death and danger. He's developed that idea throughout his career. Those are just his beliefs."

John Carpenter : "See Only Angels Have Wings above."

John Carpenter : "I'd have to say, jeez... Citizen Kane is a great film. Like Hawks, this movie is a vision, primarily the director's vision, of something that is whole and complete."

John Carpenter : "Vertigo is a perfect nightmare. Perfect. It's a dream, and it's stunning. It's so dark and obsessive, and it came from this director who claimed to only want to entertain the audiences. But that's not true; it's a masterpiece."

John Carpenter : "And let me throw in an oddball here: Blow-Up. That is a brilliant film. It's kind of a perfect enigmatic example of a film. I just love that movie. I can't get enough of it. It's so strange! [laughs]"